Explore Lantana's History/Digital Library/Archive

Name

The Town of Lantana, Florida, is named for the genus Lantana, a family of perennial flowering plants native to tropical regions, including South Florida. The small scented flowers are a mixture of vivid yellow, red, and orange.

Geography

The Town of Lantana is a coastal community in Palm Beach County, Florida, in the U.S.A., adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.

Although it is one of the smaller communities of Palm Beach County, Lantana is noted as one of the oldest.The first settlers came after Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act in 1842 at the end of the Seminole Wars.One of the pioneer settlers, The Lyman family, is distinguished as the founders of the town.M. B. Lyman brought his family to Lantana in 1888 and started several enterprises.He established a store, Indian Trading Post, and post office in 1889.As postmaster, Mr. Lyman named the post office as Lantana Point for the wild Lantana plant, which grew in abundance in the area.The 'Point' was later dropped.One of the Lyman businesses was the Lantana Fish Company where one hundred thousand-pound catches of fish were common.In the early 1900's the gathering and marketing of oysters became the leading industry.

The Town of Lantana was incorporated in 1921 with twenty-two residents voting in the first election.At the time of incorporation, the area of Lantana was one square mile with a population of 100 residents.Today, the Town covers 2' sq. miles. CURRENT POPULATION STATISTICS AND OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT THE QUICKFACTS SECTION OF THE U.S. CENSUS SITE AT http://www.census.gov/#

LINEHAN DIGITAL LIBRARY OF LANTANA'S HISTORY

The Lantana Public Library for the Town of Lantana, Florida, also has more historical information on the town, a Floridian monograph collection, and also now a digital library of 600+ images.

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